Damon Asbury, the new STRS executive director, said
Tuesday he will recommend to the retirement system board
next week that the payments be made to investment and
noninvestment employees for work done in the 2002-2003
fiscal year, the Associated Press reported.

Asbury said he felt the system had to make the move
legally because employees participated in the program
expecting to earn bonuses for meeting “stretch goals,”
which included attending workshops and keeping
spreadsheets of expenses. Asbury said the decision was
also supported by an Ohio attorney general opinion late
last year that a valid bonus contract existed between the
system and employees.

Asbury’s announcement brought an almost immediate
negative reaction from a sponsor of legislation to reform
the state’s five pension systems. “Oh my God,” state
Representative Michelle Schneider, a Republican, said.
“They just don’t get it. The nightmare continues. This is
not a step in the right direction. It absolutely hurts
the effort to restore faith and trust in the
system.”

John Lazares, a Warren County superintendent who
was just elected to the board but will not take office
until September, wondered about the timing of the
announcement (See
Buckeye State Teachers Kick Out STRS Chairman
). He beat incumbent board member and chairman Eugene
Norris by less than 300 votes Saturday. He said the
margin would have been even greater had this news come
out sooner.

“I ran on the issue that we have to rebuild
confidence and respect for the system,” he said. “I know
this will devastate members. I don’t support it.”

The bonuses are from a program that was suspended
in the aftermath of revelations about excessive spending
last year.

Asbury’s predecessor, Herb Dyer, resigned last
August in the face of heavy criticism over spending of
millions of dollars on bonuses, artwork and travel at the
same time that assets plunged (See
Dyer Steps Down From
Ohio STRS Post
).

The system serves more than 410,000 active and
retired educators with assets of about $54
billion.